Street Talk

I never thought I would Korean Gangnam Style dance in a teenage mutant ninja turtle costume at an Irish flavored green party on the eve of St Patrick’s Day at a miss-spelled French punned named art gallery in the Protestant hills of north Mississippi. I’m sure my just-off-the-boat Irish Catholic ancestors would be rollingly perturbed in their mucky south Louisiana graves if they could somehow know.
And I know for sure the French ancestors are still mad about the miss spelling—it should be “beaux-arts.”  Oh well, you can’t make everybody happy.
But happy was the crowd at the Green Gala of Yalobusha. The guy with broccoli banded to his head, lady elegantly dressed as the dark green Queen of Hearts, the very viney poison ivy woman, the spandex Green Hornets twins, even the folks dressed in green flannel all had a good time. There was more green hair and green blinking lights and green velvet dresses than you would have thought possible. The food was great and the music thumping and that made the party go.  The limericks were better than hoped for–and Yalobusha does rhyme well with “tush-a” if you inflected it just right.
Events like this don’t just happen, it takes months of planning and promotion to pull one off. The Water Valley Arts Council led by co-chairs Ramona Bernard and Bill Warren and mightily assisted by a whole host of energetic and like-minded WVAC members did it. And they do it not only for the fun of it all, but as a community service. The party has a purpose and that is the furthering the arts as a driving force in this community. Because the WVAC believes the “Arts” add a creative energy to the town and this enhances the quality of life we all enjoy. And they do it all pro bono. So if you see an Arts Council member, tell them thanks for what they do, keep supporting their efforts, and maybe consider joining.
The first Fiddler’s Loft music night is opening for the spring season starting this Friday night, March 22. While not downtown, it is right outside of town off Hwy 32 at 393 CR 102 in Fiddlin’ Rooster Farm. During the growing season Doug and Rhonda Webb do a great job of making this place an agri-tourism destination, especially for school kids. And in the pleasant weather evenings both in the fall and springtime, Kevin Guyer and Kerry O’Donoghue have made this seasonal music series something that draws folks in region wide. It is a great music venue and plus they always have a great selection of desserts there. Music is playing from 7:00 to 9:30. Clint Jordan and Love Cannon are the two acts this week playing. This series also has a sponsor in the Caryl Company—that’s Eddie and Mari Foster. And that’s important, for this private support of the arts, in this case the performing arts, is what makes this event possible. And events like this and your on-going support of them is what makes the quality of life in this town good and getting better.